


Walk Away, You're Messed Up

by green_feelings



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Reality Show, Gen, I'm afraid this sucks, Reality TV, and ot5 is the best otp of 'em all, there may be more canon to this than it seems at first
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-20
Updated: 2014-02-20
Packaged: 2018-01-13 03:07:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1210396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/green_feelings/pseuds/green_feelings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU, in which a jobless model, a retired footballer, a struggling singer-songwriter, an underrated actor and a failed popstar move into a house together for a new Reality TV format. They don’t know each other, but living in each other’s pockets, as well as overcoming ridiculous challenges every week, they become friends. They figure that they work better as a team than as individuals and in the end, it maybe isn’t about winning the show anymore. </p><p>Or: They are all second-class celebs, participating in a shit reality show, screwing over the producers and ruling the show, although they lose on every single challenge.</p><p>Inspired by <a href="http://asschlin.tumblr.com/post/57736726831/au-meme-a-reality-show-about-five-complete">this post</a>  on Tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Zayn

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! It's been a while. So this is my contribution to this year's 1D Big Bang. I got really excited lately for all the talk about a possible 1D Reality Show. This is probably not what it would look like, but still. This is what I imagined it would have been like, if they hadn't all tried out for The X Factor. Fate, destiny, soulmate stuff --- we all know they would have ended up in each others' pockets anyway.  
> Their friendship is lovely, so take this as an ode to the love that is the OT5 of this band. :) 
> 
> Special thanks go out to my lovely betas. [Laura](http://tiedlikeships.tumblr.com/) and [Meg](http://only-loveisallmaroon.tumblr.com/), thank you so much for taking the time ♥ [Kara](http://decision-and-revisions.tumblr.com/) , you are a sweetheart, thank you for all the encouraging words you found for me. And [Jenny](http://gemmy719.tumblr.com/), you are a legend for jumping in last minute -- I appreciate it a lot. Thank you :) 
> 
> There is some lovely, wonderful and unbelievingly adorable art that [Moa](http://louislovelinson.tumblr.com) drew for this fic. I added it here, but you find it on her tumblr too. Leave her lots of love :) ♥ 
> 
> (The title is a song by _Fuck Art, Let's Dance_ )
> 
> With that, all that's left to say is: Enjoy the read :)

His first choice would have been Liam.

Liam would get straight into his car and drive wherever he had to go to pick Zayn up. He'd be worried, he wouldn't take any detours, and he would be there as soon as possible.

That's why Zayn would pick Liam. He could be trusted and he was reliable.

Zayn's second choice would have been Louis. He was reliable as well, and Zayn didn't have a doubt that Louis would come just as quickly as Liam would. However, unlike Liam, Louis would be less worried and more amused by the situation. He'd give Zayn shit, tease him, and that was why Louis was Zayn's second choice.

For Harry and Niall -- Zayn wasn't all so sure whether he would call either of them at all. It wasn't that they couldn't be trusted. Both of them seemed just fine; nice and friendly, easy to get along with and fun to spend time with. In an emergency, though, Zayn probably wouldn’t rely on either of them.

Harry seemed like someone who would get on his way immediately, worried and coming as fast as possible. But, as fast as possible meant in Harry's case that he'd get either distracted or lost on his way, and thus would make Zayn wait.

Niall -- Zayn didn't think Niall would come straight away. He'd finish first whatever he was doing. His meal, his game of FIFA, a strumming session with friends. Niall wouldn't exactly get the seriousness of the moment.

That was, of course, all just in Zayn's head, but it did help him to get a clear impression of the other four.

It was what Zayn used to do, when he got to know new people or found himself confronted with a group of strangers. He would categorise them, characterise them in his head to understand their behaviours.

It was easiest to make up a situation in his head in which Zayn would have to imagine their reactions. In this case, his imaginary situation had been his car breaking down in the middle of the night. He was stuck in some rural place, a workshop run by an old man with grey hair and a white beard, wearing a blue dungaree covered in black stains, his hands rough and dirty, his name tag reading 'Paddy'. Paddy the mechanic would tell Zayn that he could make one call from his office -- which wasn't an office, really, because there was only a desk and a phone, grey walls and one shelf with thick files, as well as a calendar on the wall showing off a pretty blonde in a red mini dress posing by a car. Then, Zayn would have to wait in front of the workshop's gates. Because it was 'goddamn middle of the night, people are supposed to sleep, you are lucky I picked you up and towed your little piece of shit car to my workshop, you scallywag'.

In that case, Zayn's choice would be Liam.

Liam, who somehow shared a fortune with Zayn, and maybe it really was a misfortune. They had both come in second on a casting show; on completely different ones, though. Zayn had participated in Britain's Next Top Model two years ago, while Liam had been on The X Factor just a few months later. Neither of them had managed to snatch the crown.

It was probably the reason they had ended up on this show.

"Look, Louis," Liam was saying right then, "I can't really move that sofa when you're blocking my way."

The cameras were rolling, focusing on those two. Louis was curled up in a chair, wearing jogging bottoms and a jumper, feet bare and his hair covered by a red beanie. Liam had turned to him, arms crossed.

"It's arse o'clock in the morning," Louis argued. "I really don't know why we can't move after the sun comes up."

"Because we'd like to be done before midnight," Liam told him, kicking the armchair Louis sat in. "Now move out of the way."

"They could have at least prepared tea." Louis made a grumpy face, but got up and moved over to the other side of the room, curling up in another chair. He had feathery hair and blue eyes, and a rather sharp tongue. It was what he needed, probably, because Louis' name had been the only one Zayn had recognised straight away. He was an actor, but none of those actors that had made it to Hollywood. Louis had been stuck with side roles, mostly playing the villain on telly shows or cheap BBC productions.

In their first meeting, Zayn had found out that Louis was actually the oldest. He didn't quite act like that, but that would probably change within the two months they'd be living together. Zayn had a distinct feeling that Louis would prove being a lot more grown-up than he acted now. They had been given a briefing on what the show would be like, an introduction to the concept by the producers, and most importantly, they had begun to know each other.

Zayn had managed to observe all of them closely on that opportunity. While the producers had talked about the show, Zayn had watched the other four. Niall had been rather distracted, bouncing his leg for the whole meeting, looking anywhere but at the people in front of him. Liam had listened closely, nodded along to what had been said. Harry had opened a small pocketbook and had written down a lot of things Zayn could not have seen. And Louis had looked distracted, too, but every time one of the producers had finished talking about an aspect, Louis had been the first to ask questions. Harry had crossed out whatever he had written down.

That had already given Zayn a clear picture of what kind of personalities he would have to deal with for the upcoming two months.

This was day one, and although they had met before, they had had to act out a first meeting for the cameras earlier. It had been a bit awkward, especially with Harry giving all of them warm hugs, saying how happy he was to see them. But that was probably not all that bad, and maybe something the viewer would expect from Harry Styles.

Providing that they would know who Harry was in the first place, they would assume that just was his natural reaction. After all, Harry was probably the least famous person amongst them. He had landed one massive hit at the age of seventeen, which had been three years ago. Ever since then, Harry had somehow managed to stay in the industry. He had told Zayn in their first meeting that he had released a few more songs, but that he wasn't exactly successful as a singer. He was a songwriter now, and as Harry had listed the songs he had written for other artists, Zayn had to admit that Harry was, indeed, a rather successful writer.

He wasn't a figure of the public eye, though, which was a mystery to Zayn, actually, because he thought that Harry had great star qualities. Maybe this show would give him the right boost to get him back into the world of fame.

As of right now, Harry was probably their only joker, because he was the only one who actually had an eye for interior design.

This was their first challenge, basically. The concept of the show was them, five strangers, moving into a house together and fulfilling tasks every week to gather points. They called the project The Surreal Life, and they would follow them with cameras, document their struggles of getting to know each other and arranging their living situation, airing the most entertaining scenes each Saturday night on ITV1.There was a girls house, too, that would get the same challenges over the next few months, trying to beat the boys.

This first challenge was for them to decorate the house, and Niall had been assigned the head of organisation. It would be like that for all five challenges they had to solve over the upcoming weeks. Each one of them would be responsible for another challenge.

Zayn was afraid this would have been the only kind of task he would have been able to handle. He didn't quite have a feeling for interior design, but Zayn had an eye for composition and colours -- he had given a lot of advice on those matters. Harry, however, had a feeling for the small things. Harry could make it look homely, and even a bit feminine; definitely something each of the other boys were missing.

Harry had come up with the strangest things, such as magnets on the kitchen fridge to pin whatever they gathered throughout their stay in the house, and maritime stickers for the bathroom walls, as well as scented candles for each bedroom. Zayn's room had been assigned clove, and thinking of it, it wasn't too bad. Harry had also hung up pictures he had picked with Zayn when they had been out shopping furniture for the house.

They'd had a budget from the production team and Zayn was sure Niall had actually managed to buy a six pack with that money too. It was in the fridge now and meant for them to drink after they had finished furnishing the house.

Niall made it a point to remind them every thirty minutes.

He was from Ireland and had played for the national football squad, but because of a knee injury, he had had to quit. After that, he had vanished from the public eye for a while, had played a bit of golf. These days, he was a co-trainer for the under 21 national squad, and was rather successfully working his way up.

Niall definitely was the liveliest. While Louis was the loudest (when it wasn't half six in the morning and he hadn't had a cup of tea, apparently), Niall was the one who could talk non-stop and always came up with a new story to tell.

Zayn was grateful for that, actually, because it took some of the focus off him, the cameras mostly pointing at Niall or Louis, catching their shenanigans.

The cameras had been steadily rolling since yesterday when they had met for the furniture shopping. They were switched off at certain times, at those times that weren't giving any material to show on telly Saturday night. There was a script, a loose guideline to what was supposed to happen. It usually stated vague things, such as _Breakfast together on Monday_ or _Niall and Zayn grocery shopping together, Liam, Louis and Harry cleaning the house_. They were all just suggestions to keep them busy and to create scenes for the camera that held potential dramatic moments or suspense, as well as funny outcomes. How they would act on those events was up to them, though.

Zayn wasn't really sure how he had ended up on a format like this, but it didn't sound too bad. Maybe, it would be fun even; at least the other four boys seemed all to be rather nice blokes.

He could have fared worse.

+++

"How would I know? Can't we let Harry decide?" Niall flopped down onto the carpet, sprawling his limbs out.

"You're assigned as the leader for this challenge," Liam reminded him, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Sorry, Niall, but you'll have to make a decision."

Niall closed his eyes, and Zayn felt a pang of sympathy for him. He wouldn't want to be in Niall's shoes and make that decision. "I'll go with green, then."

"You Irish lot always go with green!" Louis complained. "Blue! It should be blue!"

"Green is just about perfect," Harry argued. "You made the right decision, Niall."

Niall shrugged and sat up, glancing at Louis before he looked at Liam. "Green is alright, isn't it?"

"Whatever you say, mate," Liam simply answered. He turned around and opened the pot filled with green paint. He wore an old, plaid shirt and jeans that were ripped at the knees. Zayn found it quite endearing. He was the only one who had bothered to change in order to keep his fancy clothes protected from any stains.

Louis mumbled something under his breath, but still grabbed one of the brushes. Harry walked over and rested a hand on Louis' shoulder, talking quietly. Zayn watched Louis glare at him, but when he turned back to face the wall, Zayn didn't miss the small smile playing around his lips.  
All good, then, Zayn decided, making to get started on painting the living room wall.

Cameras were rolling, capturing every move, and Zayn tried to zoom out on the people behind the cameras. None of them talked, and he found that a little creepy. They just watched them, as if it was a play in the theatre.

The other boys, however, didn't seem too bothered, so Zayn decided to not let it bother him either.

+++

"So," Louis said, as they sat around their sofa table later that night. Everything was set up, the cameras had stopped rolling, the production team had left; only the five of them had remained in the house.

Zayn raised his head from his arms and looked at him, taking a swipe from his beer. He was tired, feeling exhausted from a day spent carrying heavy things, decorating rooms and being surrounded by too many people.

The walls of the living room were green, the sofas not yet moved too close. Tomorrow, they'd give it the last touch -- that had been Niall's decision. Zayn was sure it was because Niall had been just as tired of the day’s hectic schedule. They had argued a lot. Over paint and furniture, scented candles in the lounge, as well as framed pictures in the kitchen.

Zayn was grateful they had been allowed to make most decisions for their private rooms on their own. Niall had even managed to keep an eye on the budget, so they had not crossed their limit.

It was a mystery to him why Louis would need an extra cabinet for his shoes, but as long as buying one didn't get them into trouble, Zayn didn't mind it too much.

It had been a busy day, indeed, busier than most of Zayn's days in the past year. The quiet that had settled upon the house had almost lulled him into sleep right at his spot on the floor, arms on the small table.

"What exactly do you guys have to promote to be on here?" Louis asked, slouching back into the cushions.

Liam nipped his beer, staring at the table. "I've got a single hitting the shelves in November, so I need to get my name back into the tabloids."

"Money," Zayn answered, as Liam didn't add anything else to his statement. "I didn't get any good jobs lately, so I'm mostly doing it for the money."

Louis nodded. "Yeah, same here. The publicity is a good bonus."

"I need the publicity, too," Harry agreed. "Been writing songs for a year, and it's going good, but I want to perform them myself."

"I don't get why they wouldn't want to see you on stage," Louis commented. "One would think the girls were all over you. With those curls and the dimples."

Harry blushed, lowering his gaze and shrugging. "Just want them to listen to me singing my songs, really."

"Having them adore you is a good start to get there, though," Liam said and shifted on the sofa, so he could face Harry in the armchair. "Being a popstar doesn't only come with a good voice and catchy songs. You need the personality and the looks, too."

"Look who's talking," Louis snarled, smirking. "You learned that the hard way, didn't you?"

"Fuck you," Liam retorted. "I'll get there."

"What about you?" Zayn asked, trying to distract from the brooding fight between Louis and Liam, turning to Niall. He was lying on his back, beer bottle already empty. "Why are you here?"

Niall shrugged. "Always wanted to be on Celebrity Big Brother," he answered. "But wasn't enough of a celebrity to get into the house. So I ended up here."

Zayn stared at him, blinking, waiting for him to declare it a joke. The others were just as silent, and as Niall didn't say any more, they all burst out into laughter.

"Seriously?" Harry asked, and when Niall nodded, he added, "That is sick."

Niall rolled over to sit up. "This is gonna be fun, lads," he told them. "And we'll beat the girls."

"Do any of you have an idea who they are?" Liam asked. "Are there any good ones?"

"What?" Louis asked. "You're up for pulling a bird?"

Liam put his bottle on the table. "A celebrity girlfriend could definitely get me back in the papers."

"Liam," Harry said, tone serious. "That shouldn't be an option."

"Haven't you thought about it?" Zayn asked.

Harry shook his head. "No. I mean," he amended, "if I really fell in love, that would be different. But I wouldn't have a fake relationship."

"You're too naive for this business, Curly," Louis told him, emptying his bottle. "It's cute, but that's probably the reason you haven't made it."

"I don't think you can make it in this business if you have to act like someone you're not," Harry argued, and to Zayn's surprise he held up to Louis' stare, didn't look away. He probably wasn't as weak as he appeared.

"Lads," Niall piped in, slapping his palm on the table. "This is not the time to argue. We're here to have fun. Let's not get in a fight."

"It's just an argument, Niall," Harry assured him. "Nothing serious."

"How about a round of FIFA?" Liam asked.

"I think I'll head to bed soon." Zayn stretched. He couldn't quite understand how the other boys could still keep their eyes open.

"Me, too," Niall agreed. "But I'd be in for one round."

"I'm always up for FIFA." Louis got up to switch on the telly. "And I'll choose a team first."

Zayn didn't get too much of the argument that ensued after that comment, as he fell asleep to the noise of Louis and Niall fighting over teams, Liam humming quietly to his right and Harry making comments on how picking teams wasn't fair, anyway.

+++

"The lads are all nice," Zayn said into the camera a few days later. The room was dark, had no window, only one ceiling light. They all had to go in here each Friday and make their comments about the week.

Zayn wasn't really sure what to say, though.

"Harry made lunch the other day and it was nice, sitting together around the table." Zayn frowned at the wall behind the camera. "But it gets rather exhausting, being with all four of them all the time. I like to withdraw to my room and, like, go to sleep? They probably think I don't like being with them. But that's not it."

He shrugged, pursing his lips. "I'm just not good with so many people. But I think they get that. So far, none of them have said anything."

For a moment, he was silent, trying to remember what he was meant to say. Individual comments, he recalled. They had told them to comment on each boy individually.

"Niall is great," he said then, looking back at the camera. "He's like, really chill. Always up for a chat, and never down. He's easy to get along with. Liam is--" He stopped for a second, considered his words. "Different from what I expected. He is very determined and driven. I like it. Harry's actually quite similar. He has made up his mind, too, but he has a different approach. He is kind, very kind, and maybe it's because he's so young, but I feel like he needs to be shielded a bit. I'll keep an eye on him."

Zayn smiled, as the next thought hit him. "Louis does, too. It's quite funny to watch, actually. Because, he would never, like-- admit to it? But he keeps an eye on all of us, and he definitely took the role of the leader, somehow. Niall laughs at everything he says and does whatever Louis orders him to do. Harry's the same. Liam and Louis fight quite a bit, which worries me, because--" He bit his lip. "I just hope they won't clash, because it'll be awkward."

For a moment, he was quiet again, watching the wall before he shrugged. "I guess that's it? Is there anything else?"

Of course, no one answered, as there was nothing but that camera in the room.

"So, yeah. I think I'll leave?" Zayn got up, glanced at the camera again, before he approached the door.

"That's it."


	2. Niall

Admittedly, his challenge hadn't gone too well. It had been a little unfair from the beginning, though. Obviously, the girls would do better for a task like decorating a house. In Niall's mind the only one who could have kept up with girls had been Harry, so he had basically just listened to every of his suggestions.

It hadn't been enough to win, though, and Niall felt a little guilty for letting them down. The boys had not seemed too upset about it, however. All of them had told him it was okay, and that it was much more important that they liked their house, not anyone who didn't even have to live there.

Niall wasn't sure if it had been for the cameras only. He wanted to believe it hadn't been. For Liam and Harry he was almost certain that they had meant it genuinely. Zayn and Louis, however, were hard to read. Maybe they hadn't meant it.

This week's challenge would have been much better for Niall, anyway.

Harry had been assigned leader for this week and he was probably as insecure about it as Niall had been last week. He always checked back with Liam, asked if certain things were okay -- up to the point where the producers actually had to speak up and remind Harry that he was in charge and had to make decisions by himself.

It was after midnight and Niall was in the kitchen, preparing a small midnight snack. He couldn't sleep, as it was way too hot outside.

"You think that's okay?" Niall heard a voice from the lounge. He frowned slightly and picked up the sandwich, making his way out of the kitchen. Through the door frame, he could see Harry and Louis sitting side by side on the sofa. Each of them held a bottle of beer, and they talked in hushed voices.

"Of course it's okay," Louis assured Harry. "As long as there's footie to play you can't do anything wrong."

"A sports day," Harry sighed and tilted his head back. "How would I know how to organise a sports day? Why do we even have to have one?"

"I think Liam's rather excited about it," Louis pointed out. "It's not so bad, Curly."

"But what are we going to do?" Harry sounded stressed. "Like, play footie. And then?"

"Whatever comes to your mind. Volleyball," Louis suggested. "We have a pool, so we could make use of that."

"But they told me to think of games we could actually beat the girls in," Harry said, tapping his fingers against the bottle.

Niall cleared his throat in that moment, and both Harry and Louis looked over at him. He walked into the room and curled into one of the armchairs. "So," he started. "The producers said you're not meant to discuss this with any of us while the cameras are off."

"Fuck the producers," Louis snarled.

"Just saying," Niall answered. "Anyway. I was thinking, there's probably no other sport the girls are really bad at, except for footie?"

Harry nodded. "It's what I figured."

"For their sports day, we'll probably have to do shit such as dancing," Louis noted, scratching his forehead.

"What about the gym?"

Niall turned his head and saw Liam come into the room. He wore shorts and a tank top and carried a glass of what looked like milk.

"The gym?" Harry asked.

Liam nodded. "That's definitely something they won't beat us in."

Harry got a concerned expression. "I'm not sure."

"You could assign us to different sports," Liam suggested and put down his glass. "They never said we'd all have to participate in every game as a team. You could go for one-on-one matches."

"That's brilliant!" Louis chanted. "Great idea, Payno!"

Liam gave him a shy smile.

"It really is," Niall agreed. "And to finish it off, we'll beat them in a footie match at the end of the day."

"What sports are you good at, then?" Harry asked, opening the pocketbook Niall had noticed him carrying around all the time.

"Football," Louis said.

Liam rolled his eyes. "Something different, Louis."

"Like, what other sport do you like? Anything a girl would be bad at." Harry watched Louis with big eyes.

"Skateboarding," Louis finally answered.

Harry beamed, and Niall felt himself relaxing a bit. Seeing Harry in so much stress about that task had not been easy to bear. "I can do golf," Niall said.

Harry nodded and wrote it down in his little book. "How about you, Liam?"

"Well, I'm good for anything athletic." Liam shrugged. "So whatever you'd need me for, sign me up."

"Does anyone know about Zayn?" Louis asked. "What is he good at?"

"Sleeping," Niall pointed out.

Harry giggled. "I'll ask him tomorrow."

"You can't," Louis pointed out. "They're so fussy about their bloody rules. We'll ask him once the cameras are off tomorrow night."

Nodding, Harry put away his book. He bit his lip and looked at them, one by one. "Is this okay? It is a bit like cheating, isn't it?"

Liam shrugged. "I think they did single out our weaknesses to make this hard on each one of us."

Louis nodded. "Liam is right. They know what each of us is really bad at. We're just trying to make the best out of it."

"They want to see disaster," Niall agreed. He had thought about it last night when he had to go into that small room without a window and with only a chair, a camera pointed at his face. "And probably us getting into fights. I'm not really keen on getting into fights with you guys, though."

Harry shook his head. "No, I wouldn't want to fight. With none of you."

"We won't," Liam assured him. "We're cleverer than them."

"That's not even a word," Louis laughed.

"Really?" Liam turned to Niall, frowning. "It isn't?"

Niall shrugged. "How would I know? Cleverer? More clever? I don't use it too often," he admitted.

"No surprise there, mate," Louis said between chuckles.

"Both are correct," Zayn's voice came through. Niall turned to him when Zayn shuffled into the lounge and sat down on the sofa next to Harry.

"And you know that, how?" Liam asked.

"I went to school?" Zayn shrugged and ran a hand through the black hair falling over his eyes. "Why are you having a meeting without me?"

"You were sleeping," Harry pointed out. "We didn't want to wake you up."

"Were you talking anything important, then?"

Niall grinned when Louis and Liam exchanged a brief look, and Harry looked over at him before nodding at Louis.

"We just decided that we're clevererer than the producers of this show," Niall pointed out.

"Clevererer," Harry repeated, bursting into giggles. Louis ruffled his curls.

"Of course we are," Zayn agreed, without commenting on Niall's pun. "So what are we going to do about that sport's day?"

Niall beamed at him, glad to see they were all on the same page.

This was going to be so much better for him than Celebrity Big Brother could have ever been.

+++

Louis hadn't been wrong when he had guessed they'd have to dance at the girls’ sport's day.  
Niall stared at Liam in front of them, counting and following the steps. Liam made it look much easier than it actually was.

"It's great you grasped it, Liam," one of the people behind the cameras said. "But it's actually Harry who's supposed to lead this."

Harry made a miserable expression but switched places with Liam anyway.

"Count to four," Liam whispered beside Niall, giving Harry an encouraging nod.

"One, two, three, four," Harry counted, trying to stay in rhythm with the song. He looked unbelievably gangly, his movements awkward and stiff.

From the corner, the girls burst into giggles, bright laughter and Niall turned to them to give them an angry look. He noticed Louis doing the same.

Niall knew most of them. Eleanor Calder was one of those “It” girls, who really hadn't done anything to become famous other than dating famous men. She was pretty, he wouldn't argue with that, but she also didn't possess any real talent. At least none that would justify the money she earned by appearing on telly.

Jade Thirlwall had become famous in a girl band, and after they had split she had had troubles to succeed as a solo artist. She was nice, though; Niall had met her at a charity event before. Even now, she was the first to fall quiet and press her lips together, looking guilty.

The other girl Niall had met before was Jesy Nelson. She was the author of feminist books and columns for several women's magazines. Of course Niall hadn't read any of them, but they had sold very well to his knowledge. She had gained a lot of followers, mainly young women. Her latest book hadn't been too successful, though. It was probably the reason she participated in this show.

Perrie Edwards was a fashion icon. Niall had heard a lot about her, as she was always in the papers for her bizarre and unique outfits. She designed fashion and was quite successful, popular with teens. Niall didn't know her, but the fact that she was laughing the loudest right now made him dislike her.

The last one was Leigh-Anne Pinnock. She was a right beauty and just like Jade, she was a singer. She had always been on her own, though, and had stormed the charts with quite a few hits. For the past year, Niall hadn't heard about her at all, so he assumed this was part of her comeback.

Somehow, the girls had managed to master the choreography within thirty minutes, putting on a right show to the Spice Girls' _Wannabe_. 

For the boys, they had picked a Backstreet Boys song Niall didn't even know the name of, although Niall did, in fact, know quite a few. Westlife, he could have done that. Westlife was easy. Ballads were easy -- those didn't even require dancing.

Instead, they failed miserably to a Backstreet Boys song, giving the nation reason to laugh. Niall assumed the moment Zayn had crashed into Louis, taking both of them down, had probably been the highlight of the day.

The day continued in a similar pattern. Dancing, gymnastics, even ballet. Ballet! Niall had never thought he'd have to dance a single bit of ballet in his life.

Well, that one was off his list. At least they had not forced him to wear anything pink.

"We'll have to take them down," Liam growled when they were on their way back to their own house. The camera man in the car pointed the camera at his face and Niall registered it for the first time that day. He had somehow got so used to the cameras always around that he had forgotten about them altogether.

"That was the most embarrassing experience of my life," Louis agreed. "We'll have to pay them back."

"I don't think it was too bad," Harry amended. It sounded more of a question than an actual statement. "I mean, we learned quite a few things."

"I don't think I needed the knowledge of what Zayn looks like when he dances _ballet_ , thank you," Louis shot back.

"You looked good," Harry immediately assured Zayn.

Zayn laughed, shaking his head a little. "Thanks, Haz."

"Anyway," Liam cut in, crossing his arms. "They planned this out to embarrass us, and we shouldn't let them get away with that."

"Absolutely," Niall agreed. "Ballet and dancing are not even sports!"

"Well, technically---" Harry started, but was cut off when Louis clasped a hand over his mouth.

"Yes, love," he said gently, a scary tone in his voice. "No one wants to know that, though. They cheated and we'll pay them back."

Harry stared at him with big eyes, and suddenly, Niall couldn't follow anymore. Louis pulled back as if he had been stung, shrieking. He bumped into Zayn, causing him to mumble an offended curse.

"Fuck, Curly," Louis complained. "Did you just lick me?" 

Harry grinned, shrugging a shoulder.

"Fucking quirky weirdo," Louis hissed.

"Anyway," Liam repeated his earlier words, louder this time, waiting for everyone to settle down again. "We'll be better than them."

+++

It turned out to be easier said than done.

Niall watched Jade -- this really tiny person with thin, sticky arms -- lift herself up on the high bar. She had managed to pull herself up ten times already, Liam had only done eight. When the whistle was blown, she was one ahead of him, winning the game.

Liam was furious. He stormed out of the gym room, and Niall bit his lip, watching the girls high-fiving Jade.

"I'll go check on him," Zayn murmured and left after Liam.

"I don't get how she could beat him," Louis said, voice flat. "Like-- she's tiny?"

"But apparently, she's pretty strong," Harry added, sighing. "Maybe we should all go check on Liam? He looked really upset."

"I'd be upset, had I lost in a pull-up challenge against a Disney princess," Louis pointed out.

Niall could only agree. Liam had been so sure they would win. Yesterday night, they had set up a perfect plan. Agreeing that Liam should go first to discourage the girls from the very first game had seemed like the perfect plan.

Niall was afraid it would only go downhill from here on.

+++

"Harry is a legend," Niall said, staring ahead at the camera.

It didn't feel too odd anymore to come in here and talk to a lens; he had gotten strangely used to do it at the end of the week.

"He is the only one who actually won his game," Niall added, giggling to himself. "And in yoga, of all kinds. I don’t think I've ever seen anyone do yoga. Harry is so sick." He thought about that for a moment, bursting into laughter again, and shaking his head while he clapped his hands. "He challenged Jesy Nelson to a round of yoga -- and won!"

Clearing his throat, he tried to calm down again. "I don't know how the girls did it, but they even beat us in footie. Louis is such a good player, and I'm pretty decent too. Liam is quick and coordinated. We should have won." Shrugging, he added, "but whatever. Next time."

For a moment, it was quiet and Niall thought about what else to say. A lot of things were on his mind, but he wasn't sure what was acceptable to talk about. The producers had told them anything would be fine, whatever came to their minds should be said. They would cut it together in the end and see what fit for the ninety minutes that were aired every Saturday night.

"I like all four of them. Top lads. Louis is really funny, I think I laugh at everything he says. He's always got the right slur handy." Pausing, Niall laced his fingers, leaning back into the chair. "He's not always easy because he wants to be in the right all the time, but at the end of the day, he is the one who would admit to his mistakes first. I like that about him. He looks after Harry a lot. Harry is so clumsy and he kinda needs us to reassure him when he makes decisions."

Frowning, Niall stared at the camera. "Like, he knows what he wants, that much is certain, but he tries to please everybody. And I see him getting upset with himself a lot when he can't. Cheering Harry up is easy, though. A bad pun or fruits will do. He's good."

The room was quiet around him and Niall wondered if Louis probably was at the other side of the door, eavesdropping with a glass pressed to the wood. It wouldn't surprise Niall. "I think we all get along really well. Zayn and Liam fell asleep on the sofa the other night, and none of them took it the wrong way when we made jokes about it the next morning. I think that's really ace."

He shrugged again, because he really had no idea what else to add. There was nothing negative to say. "I think I'll ask Liam to train with me a bit next week. He seems like the kind of person who wouldn't mind training with someone else. Maybe he can show me a few things. His abs are sick. Like, I saw a few of the girls swoon over him on Wednesday -- even if he lost against Jade Thirlwall."

With a clap of his hands, Niall jumped up from the chair and waved at the camera. "Nothing else to say," he announced, making for the door.

"That's it!"


	3. Harry

"I can't do this. It's impossible."

Louis paced the room, cameras following his every move and Harry glanced from them back to Louis' tiny form storming through the lounge.

Zayn was sitting next to Harry, while Liam and Niall were occupying both arm chairs, staring at Louis like Harry did.

In front of a table sat a dog, panting and staring up at Louis as well.

"I'm a fucking cat person," Louis complained. "I have no idea what to do with a dog."

It was this week's challenge, and Louis was the assigned leader. It was his task to make sure they would all look after the dog, feed him and train him. At the end of the week, they'd have the dog complete a show-jumping course and would only win if he was better than the girls' dog.

Harry wasn't quite sure about their theory that each of them was assigned to a challenge they were bad at. Louis was good at this -- taking care of things, being a leader and guiding others. Harry didn't see how this would be a problem for Louis.

Then again, Louis just went through a minor meltdown because of a puppy that was staring at him with big, brown eyes.

"But, look," Liam said and got up, running a hand over the dog’s head as he sat down next to him on the floor. The dog had black and white fur, and his eyes were bright blue. A Husky, Harry thought. The dog turned into Liam, a paw on Liam's thigh. "He's really cute."

"I'm not saying it's not cute," Louis told him. "I'm just saying I don't know how to handle it."

"Doesn't he have a name?" Zayn asked. "I don't like how you call him 'it'."

"I don't know," Harry said. He got up too, and approached Louis. Fingers curling around his wrist, Harry tried to steady him. "We should think of a name."

"Louis will have to decide on one," Niall pointed out. "But we can make suggestions."

"Its name shall be Cat," Louis announced, in a grave tone.

Liam shot him an frown. "No, Louis. That's awful."

Niall was winding in his chair, laughing loudly. "I think it's hilarious."

Smiling, Harry looked from Niall to Louis. "It should be something all of us like."

"Beer?" Louis asked.

"That's better than Cat," Zayn contemplated. "What else is there all of us like?"

"Baked beans," Niall suggested. Louis held out his fist for Niall to bump it.

"Harry, do you like comics?" Liam asked suddenly.

Harry turned to him, puzzled. "Why?"

"I know Zayn's a freak over comics, and I'm one myself. Niall said he's watched Thor twenty times and Louis's told me he's into Spiderman and Iron Man. We all like comics." Liam shrugged. "That could be something."

Harry smiled, glancing at Zayn who watched him in anticipation. "I'm not really into DC, but always been a fan of Marvel."

Liam's jaw dropped. "Excuse me? Batman is the greatest."

"I think Iron Man has to disagree there, Liam," Louis butted in.

Before that could escalate into a serious argument, Harry pointed back at the puppy that had meanwhile climbed into Liam's lap. "So we're naming him after a comic figure?"

"Goblin!" Niall piped in. "Can we name him Goblin?"

"If he's got the name of an antagonist, it has to be a cool antagonist."

"Loki," Zayn said. "Loki is the coolest antagonist."

"Bad guys?" Liam asked. "You're talking about the bad guys?"

"Bad guys," Louis agreed, a soft look on his face when he gazed at Liam.

Liam nodded. "In that case, Loki sounds pretty good."

Niall slid down from his chair onto the floor, reaching out to pat the dog on the head. "I like it, too."

"It's Loki, then," Louis decided.

"He," Zayn corrected him.

Louis raised a brow, crossing his arms. "Anyway, what do I have to do to make him become my minion?"

Liam rolled his eyes, Zayn groaned and Niall laughed hysterically. Harry felt a fond smile tug up the corners of his lips.

This would be interesting.

+++

A few hours later, Harry stood on the terrace, overlooking the back garden, Liam to his left, Zayn to his right. The huge meadow had been filled with course elements, several long tubes, as well as barriers and a see-saw.

Loki ran in circles excitedly, cheered on by Louis, who praised the dog for every attempt he made at overcoming one of the barriers. Niall's head appeared from one of the tubes, cheeks red and hair mussed up. He grinned widely, calling Loki's name.

He had told them before he was strongly convinced Loki would learn how to run the course by them demonstrating how it was done.

Harry doubted that would work.

"I doubt that will work," he pointed out for good measure.

Liam sighed. "What is Louis even doing?"

"Is he praising Loki for stealing biscuits from his pocket?" Zayn asked.

Harry watched Louis frame the dog's face, cooing at him. "It's kind of endearing, though."

Liam and Zayn both turned to him with a frown.

"Yeah, it really isn't," Liam commented.

"We should do something," Zayn decided. "It's not that hard to train a dog."

"It doesn't look easy," Harry considered, watching Niall cross the see-saw on hands and knees.

"That's because those two are idiots." Shaking his head, Liam followed Zayn over to the course. Harry bit back a chuckle, because Niall got stuck in the next tube, squeaking for help.

"Loki," Zayn called the dog, crouching down in front of him. He raised a finger to keep the dog's attention. "Loki."

"Um, Zee," Louis said, raising a brow. "He's not gonna learn anything from you saying his name."

"Except, he'll learn his name," Zayn corrected him, not sparing Louis a glance.

"Oh," Louis simply commented.

"For today," Liam suggested and pulled one of Niall's arms to get him out of the tube, "I think we should work on Loki listening to each of us."

"Are we just gonna yell his name over and over again?" Louis asked, looking sceptical.

Niall toppled over himself, right into Liam's arms and taking him down in the process. They landed on their backs, and Liam groaned.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, rushing over.

Laughing, Niall rolled around, looking at Liam. "Thanks, mate."

Liam had a frown on his face, but it soon dissolved into a grin. "You knocked me down!"

Harry watched as Loki pushed between them, jumping onto Niall to get in on the fun. Niall laughed louder, Loki licked his face in excitement and Liam pulled Harry's hand, making him lose his balance.

Seconds later, Louis and Zayn got in and they formed a pile of men on the ground, pushing and shoving, playfully wrestling each other, while Loki jumped around them, barking happily.

+++

It all felt a little stupid.

At the beginning of each week, they were still handed a script that would give a few demands for what definitely had to happen during the upcoming days. Usually it was all harmless. This time, though, it stated for them to fight over who would get to have the dog for the night. It didn't specify who would get to win the discussion, or who even had to back which argument. It just said _Argument about where the dog sleeps_.

"I think he should sleep outside," Louis said for the twentieth time.

They were sitting around the kitchen table. Harry and Niall had made dinner together and their plates were empty now, only a bit of the lasagne left in the oven. Everyone of them had a bottle of beer, and while the others were still sipping from theirs, Harry's had long gone too warm to drink.  
Loki had curled up beneath the table and was sleeping soundly.

"If it bothers you to let him sleep in one of the rooms all of us use, he can just sleep in mine," Liam offered. "I don't mind."

"I would let him stay in my room," Zayn agreed.

"It's summer," Louis argued. "And he's a dog -- an animal. He won't die outside."

"How can you be that cold-hearted?" Niall asked. "No one's telling you to sleep outside, just because it's not too cold."

Louis rolled his eyes. "Animals are not meant to sleep in beds."

"He'll cry all night if we leave him outside," Liam pointed out.

"It's like it is with babies. He may be crying the first night, but you can't give in. He'll think he'll always get away with it."

Zayn shrugged. "Louis's got a point."

"But, what's your problem with Loki sleeping in my room?" Liam wanted to know. "Doesn't affect you, does it?"

"As a matter of principle, it does affect me." Louis frowned and reached for another slice of bread. "I'm responsible for raising this dog properly, and to spoiling him rotten is definitely not part of that."

They fell silent, the only noise was Louis munching on his bread and Niall shoving his bottle between his hands on the table.

Harry watched all of them for a little, before he decided to bring his idea forwards. "So if we let Loki sleep outside, he'll cry, and keep us up all night," he concluded. "But Louis doesn't want him inside."

"I don't get why he had to join our dinner, too," Louis added. He turned to Niall and pointed a finger at him. "And I did see you feeding him off the table. That will have to stop, too."

Niall made a guilty face, shrugging his shoulders.

"Anyway," Harry went on. "If he can't sleep inside, we'll have to join him outside."

Zayn blinked at him. "What?"

"Louis said it. It's summer. It's not too cold," Harry prompted his idea. "We can all sleep outside with Loki."

"That's not---" Louis started, but was cut off by Niall.

"Brilliant! That's a sick idea!"

Liam nodded. "I quite like that myself. Haven't properly camped in ages."

Zayn hummed in agreement, and all of them turned to Louis. He turned his head to Harry, raising a brow. Harry bit back a grin and just stared back at him.

"I don't think I can do anything about you guys spoiling that puppy," Louis sighed eventually. "But camping does sound ace, so --- what the hell, I'm in."

Niall cheered so loudly that Loki woke up, peeking his head from under the table to look at him.

Harry tilted his head to grin at Louis, and under the table, he got a gentle bump of their knees as an answer.

+++

Harry lay on one of the sunbeds, staring up into the dark night sky, counting the lights blinking and shining down on the world. Everything around him was quiet, sleep settling heavily on the house and garden.

Looking around, he spotted Zayn and Niall passed out on a blanket in the middle of the jumping course they had built for Loki. Liam lay on another sunbed by the pool and Loki had rolled up at his feet. Louis --- Harry blinked, as he couldn't find Louis anywhere. He had been curled up on a bench in front of the house, but that one was empty now.

Sitting up, Harry scanned the garden, frowning slightly. The camera team had left about thirty minutes ago when all of them had found a spot to spend the night in. Them sleeping didn't actually provide any good material to broadcast on Saturday.

Liam turned to Harry without rising, giving Harry a questioning look. "What's wrong?"

"Louis's gone," Harry answered.

Careful to not startle the dog, Liam sat up too, and looked around the garden. "Maybe--"

"He went to the pool house," Niall's voice came through. Liam and Harry both turned to him when he approached them. Zayn was apparently the only one who had actually fallen asleep.

"Traitor," Liam growled quietly. "He's definitely sleeping inside."

"But, in the pool house?" Harry was sceptical. He glanced at the small building behind the pool. It didn't even hold a proper room to sleep in, just served as a kind of chamber to store garden equipment. "He would have gone into the house to sleep in his own bed."

Liam shrugged and opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Louis rounded the pool house, arms full of firewood. He released a huffed noise when he unloaded it on the terrace and turned to Liam.

"I heard that!"

Liam smirked. "Sorry, mate. I totally take you for a traitor."

Louis walked over and kicked Liam's shin, not too harshly, though. "That's why we'll spend some quality time now. There are certain things I'm not talking about as long as the cameras are rolling."

"I don't think you can change the first impression you made," Niall informed him. "A bit late for that."

"Not trying to," Louis said. "But I think each of us can talk a bit more freely when it's just us. No cameras and all that."

"So you'll make a bonfire for a proper lads talk?" Harry asked, mischief painting his voice.

"I'm not holding you back from painting your nails, princess," Louis snarled, but his look was soft, despite the teasing comment. "And I'm most definitely not starting a bonfire. I got the firewood, job done. One of you is going to take care of the fire."

Liam rolled his eyes, but got up anyway. Loki jumped from the sunbed too, and sleepily walked over to Zayn, curling up next to him on the blanket.

"Did Zayn really fall asleep?" Harry asked, while Liam piled up the wood in a fire pit.

"We should wake him up," Niall suggested.

Harry saw him exchange a smile with Louis, and Louis added, "Definitely gonna wake him up." He had an idea where this was going, in which direction their thoughts had trailed.

"I'll take his arms, you guys take his legs," Louis instructed and seconds later, they were crowding next to Zayn, carefully lifting him off the ground.

"You're not going to---" Liam started, but before he could finish the sentence, they reached the edge of the pool and didn't waste a single second before they dropped Zayn in. Water splashed loudly, ringing through the night and Loki barked excitedly, all their laughter drowning out every remaining bit of the silence.

Zayn came to the surface, flailing uncoordinatedly, gasping for air. A second later, he went under again, only his arms above the surface.

"What---" Niall asked, laughter dying.

Harry grasped the situation in a matter of seconds, and sank to his knees to reach out for Zayn's flailing hands. From the corner of his right eye, he noticed movement, and next, Liam appeared and jumped into the pool. He grabbed Zayn around the waist, tugging him to the wall.

Zayn coughed, his black hair plastered to his forehead, lips slightly blue, and eyes wide in shock. Harry grabbed his forearms and Louis and Niall helped pull him out of the water.

"Fuck, Zee," Louis mumbled, rubbing his back. "I'm sorry."

"Can't swim," Zayn explained, as if it hadn't been obvious.

"Idiots," Liam commented, as he heaved himself out of the pool. He sat down next to Zayn, taking deep breaths. "You almost killed him."

"You'd make an excellent life guard, though," Niall commented. "If you had taken off your shirt during your run, it would have been a perfect scene in a film."

Liam stared at him, as well as Louis and Harry, before Zayn burst out laughing. He fell to his back and held his stomach. "Those guys would be so very pissed if they knew they didn't get this on tape."

"Would have been pretty embarrassing for you, mate, if the whole nation had seen you drown in a pool." Colour returned to Louis' cheeks and he sat down next to Zayn, smirking down at him.

"But Liam would have been the hero of the nation. Like superman," Harry pointed out.

"Batman, I prefer Batman."

"What does that make us?" Louis asked. "The Joker, Falcone and Catwoman?"

"Catwoman's not exactly a villain," Harry frowned.

"Yeah, let's be real here, Curly," Louis said through a grin. " _You_ are not exactly a villain."

Niall patted Harry's back. "That's true, man."

"But why am I the girl too?"

"Let's be real here," Liam only repeated Louis' words.

“If it makes you feel any better,” Zayn commented, “I’m the damsel in distress in this scenario.” 

Harry beamed at him, reaching out to shove the wet mess of hair from Zayn’s forehead. “Actually, it does.” 

+++

Harry was woken by Zayn bumping into his back and someone's ugly morning breath puffing right into his face. He scrunched up his nose and blinked one eye open to catch sight of Loki right in front of him and a camera behind the dog.

It was the third night that week that they had fallen asleep outside, not too far from the fire pit, all curled up on two blankets sprawled on the ground. Tonight, Harry'd been on one of the ends, Zayn squished between him and Liam. Zayn's arm rested heavily over Harry's waist and his breath left a warm tingle on the back of Harry's neck.

Harry sat up slowly, ignoring the cameras pointed at them and looked down at the other four boys still being asleep. Next to Liam, Niall had curled up, head resting on Louis' shoulder. He was snoring quietly.

"Hey, guys," Harry mumbled, voice still rough from sleep. "Guys."

Liam stirred first, heaving a deep breath and rolling over. He rolled onto Zayn but apparently didn't care too much. "What?" he rasped.

"Think it's time to get up," Harry announced.

"Go back to sleep, Haz." Niall's voice was barely a whisper.

Harry shrugged and lifted Zayn's arm to stand up. "Shower," he simply said, and made his way to the house, leaving the other four behind.

He took his time showering, letting the hot water loosen his stiff muscles and drench his greasy hair. Niall had smeared ketchup into the strands during their barbeque yesterday night. Overnight, it had dried and had left Harry's hair greasy and smelly.

Fresh out of the shower and only in his boxer shorts, he found the other four boys in the kitchen, munching on toast and sipping tea. The cameras were off and both producers of the show were sitting at the table, discussing some papers, apparently. Harry had started to call them Griffiths and Magee in his head.

Magee looked up when he noticed Harry. "There he is. I think we can start then."

Harry threw a confused look to Liam who only shrugged and handed Harry a cup of tea. In lieu of enough chairs for seven people, Harry pulled Louis onto his lap, while Zayn apparently opted to stand back. Harry had figured that it was one of Zayn's tactics. It seemed as though Zayn believed that if he wasn't involved directly, it wouldn't concern him either.

They were all okay with that -- it hadn't been explicitly discussed, but Harry had a feeling that all of them understood Zayn just didn't want to be in charge of anything.

Griffiths glanced at Harry and Louis sceptically for a second before he crossed his arms. "The ratings have been quite good for the first week," he informed them. "But we decided to make a few changes. For the girls, what interests the viewers are their fights, them being bitches, basically."

Harry frowned. He didn't personally know any of the girls participating, but he found that statement rather degrading to them.

"For you guys, we can't actually use that factor." Magee tapped a finger on the paper in front of him. "They do seem to eat up the bonding quite well, though."

"The bonding?" Liam asked.

"Five attractive men being cosy with each other -- the female viewership eats it up. You're all not too hard on the eye, each of you is individually different, and you guys seem to take to each other pretty well. It's a good base."

"For what?" Louis wanted to know.

"We'll use that," Griffiths explained. "Your friendship. Make it the main focus."

Niall shrugged. "Don't see what's so interesting about five lads being lads, but if you think so."

Harry rested his cheek against Louis' shoulder blade and smiled at Niall. With that, Niall had basically summed up what each of them were thinking right now, probably.

"Also, we think it would build up some great tension if one of you started something with one of the girls," Magee added.

Harry's head snapped up and he stared at the two man in front of them. Louis tensed up, his fingers digging a little too firmly into Harry's wrist.

"Maybe Harry," Griffiths suggested. "You and Leigh-Anne would make a good match."

"What?" The word echoed in Harry's head. Not only he had said it -- each of them had.

"We talked to her, and she'd be happy to play along. It would only be for the duration of the show. But we think both of you could pull some advantages from this. All of you. The more ratings we get, the more people will talk about each of you guys." Magee turned the paper so it faced Louis. "You just have to sign here. The papers would have something to write about the show -- it's what people want to see."

"I wouldn't have to--" Harry swallowed thickly, and he felt Louis shifting in his lap. Zayn hadn't been booked by any well-known agency in more than a year, and Liam had a single to promote that would hit shelves in November. Louis was working hard to finally get the recognition he needed to be hired as a main cast, and Niall -- well, okay. To Niall, the outcome of this probably wasn't as essential as to any of them. "Only until the show ends? And I don't have to do anything else than to pretend I'm interested in her?"

"Well, on the next challenge day, you would have to be seen with her, so your date next week wouldn't happen too out of the blue."

"No," Louis piped up. "No. That's not happening."

"Louis," Harry started.

"That's bullshit," Zayn finally spoke up too. "We don't need that."

"I think you do. The more the show is talked about in the press, the more people will remember you once it's over," Griffiths argued.

They had a point. Harry knew they did -- and he didn't want to be the one at fault when it wouldn't work out for any of the other boys. "It's okay, lads," he said firmly. "It's just for those few weeks, and if all of us profit from this, I can do it."

"Great," Magee hummed, pulling out a pen. "Just sign here."

"We'll read this first," Louis interfered, grabbing the paper. "It'll be soon enough if he hands it to you tomorrow."

Magee and Griffiths exchanged a look. Harry couldn't read it, but he knew the two producers were talking through simple eye contact. He had no idea if he was making a huge mistake right now -- maybe he was. But how could he refuse to do it?

"Sure," Griffiths answered with a tight smile.

"We'll go back to filming in ten minutes," Magee instructed as he got up from his chair. “Also, Harry,” he added, “Please do think of wearing clothes. We’re catching you naked on camera way too often. It’s a pain to edit.” 

They left the room and for a moment, the five of them were left in a heavy silence.

"Harry, I don't know if you should really do this," Liam said tentatively.

"You shouldn't have to pretend to be someone you're not, just for this," Niall agreed.

Zayn quietly took one of the vacated seats, while Louis remained in Harry's lap, the chair next to Liam staying empty.

"None of us really is himself when those cameras are on, are we?" Harry asked.

"No, I think you're right," Louis agreed. "To a degree we are ourselves, but with a camera following our every step, it's just natural to be cautious of every word and action."

"But you said you'd never do something like that," Zayn argued.

Harry smiled, impressed by Zayn's memory for details. "I don't have to act in love," he pointed out. "I only have to pretend there could be possibly, maybe something going on. And if we benefit from that, it's okay."

Louis put the paper down, looking at Harry again. "We'll use it to our advantage," he promised, "without you being hurt in the process."

Niall blinked. "What do you mean?"

"We'll just have to be clever about this," Zayn answered. "Play along in front of the cameras."

"And let just enough slip without getting caught," Liam added.

Louis beamed at them and squeezed Harry's hand. "Exactly."

+++

The day of the challenge had been a pain, to be quite frank.

Harry was sitting in the armchair of the report room, camera facing him, lights a little too bright. He felt tired from their day, as they had spent it cleaning the house. Loki had not yet learned that he was supposed to do his business outside, and that he was not supposed to destroy every item he found on the floor. That included a bunch of their shoes, as well as cushions from the sofa, the toys Niall had bought him, Louis' underwear and the carpets.

Apparently, the dog wasn't really capable of learning.

Meanwhile, the girls' dog, Hatchi, had been a perfect little show off. He had jumped the course as if he had done nothing else in his life. Loki had been distracted, always running back to one of them, being all excited.

Louis had finally given up on it and instead, had shot a ball into one of the tubes of the course.

"Goal!" he had yelled loudly, getting to his knees and holding up his hands. Loki had raised his paws to meet them. It was the only thing Louis had actually taught him throughout the week, an actual high-five with a dog. Or, high-ten in this case. 

"Well," Harry commented, rubbing his lips. "I think the week went better than expected."

This week, he had even got a script for what he was supposed to say in here. Whereas before, they had always been allowed to say whatever they wanted to say, each of them had got instructions about what they had to weave into their report this time.

Of course Harry was expected to comment on Leigh-Anne, which caused him some heavy stomach pains.

He liked her just fine -- it wasn't like he couldn't stand her. She was a nice girl, a right beauty, obviously, and she had been just as wary about the whole stunt as he had been. That had probably made it even more awkward.

Harry had felt a little left out when he had to stroll off with her, watching the other four boys preparing Loki for the course. He had rather wanted to be with them than awkwardly talking to a girl he didn't even know.

"We didn't win the challenge, but it was still a good week for us," he said slowly. "I feel like I got to know the boys even better."

Smiling slightly, Harry shrugged. "Niall's really got a good heart. He has shown some real concern for Loki's well-being. And he tried to make all of us agree, and I think he is the only one who can really do that. As soon as he gets involved, Loki's back in the spirit, ready to do some more and take on the next challenge. It's fascinating."

He thought about his words for a moment, choosing them carefully. Letting enough slip, without getting caught, he thought and resumed, "Zayn's very thoughtful. He probably understood the situation best. Like, about Loki," he added, glancing at the camera. "He has an eye for all those little details, and he just understands and pieces them together. He never loses sight of the full picture."

Quietly, Harry shifted in his seat, pushing his hair from his view. "Liam is very practical. He is probably the one who never loses sight of the goal. And he can voice it too. Whatever needs to be done to reach the goal, he'll do it. I quite envy him for that trait. He is very loyal, though -- was the first to offer that Loki could sleep in his room. He couldn't ever abandon him; it's like once he connected to the dog, he felt obliged to take care of him the best he could."

Talking about Louis was the last honest part he would give for his report. Everything afterwards would be scripted, so Harry sought out the best words he could find. "Louis tries to be in control. He's a natural leader, I guess. Even though Zayn understands it better, and Liam may be more of a natural with Loki, he still focused on Louis most. After all, Louis was the only one who was able to teach Loki something. I think that says a lot." He cleared his throat, shrugging.

"The girls' dog really was good, so I guess they deserved to win. Next challenge is probably gonna be better for us." He tapped his fingers on his thigh. "Maybe we can spend some more time with the girls, too. Those get-togethers for the challenge days are always quite a bit of fun."

He took a deep breath, glancing up at the camera again. Steeling himself, Harry added, "Maybe we can hang out apart from those days, too. Like, the girls only live down the street. I'm sure we could-- like, maybe, invite them over sometime. For dinner, or something."

That's it, he thought, relieved that he had made it without stuttering every single word. He stared at the camera, feeling a frown form between his eyebrows. Harry wanted to say more, but he was afraid whatever he could say would only amount to _too much_.

"That's it," he said instead, getting up from the chair and walking towards the door, without looking back once. When he reached it, he repeated, quietly and only for himself, "That's it."


	4. Louis

Louis opened his eyes at half seven, waking up to a quiet house, the only noises he could make out coming from outside his window. He lay there for a while and tried to get back to sleep, catch another couple of hours. It was their first day off in weeks, since the show had started, actually, and Louis planned to make full use of it.

He would sleep in, would get Harry to make them breakfast, play footie with Niall and Liam, order pizza and lounge on the sofa, watching stupid telly and films until midnight.

After what felt like another hour, but had really been only twenty minutes, Louis sighed and sat up, running a hand through his hair. He decided to give up on trying to fall back asleep and got out of bed, shuffling down the corridor.

In front of Liam's door, he stopped and gently knocked before he peeked inside. The bed was a mess, the window wide open and the sheets empty. So apparently, Liam was already up and, Louis assumed, out for a jog with Loki. He did that most mornings. Scrunching up his nose, Louis closed the door again. Days off were meant to be spend in a lazy manner -- he would have to have a word with Liam about that.

Turning, he approached Niall's door, and knocked lightly before he stepped in. Niall was sprawled out on his bed, duvet pulled up to his chin, only a mess of blond hair visible for Louis. The blinds were closed and only very little light came in, the air smelled stale, felt thick in Louis' lungs.

"Fuck off, Tommo," Niall's gravelly voice reached him.

Rolling his eyes, Louis made his way out again, closing the door behind himself quietly.

It wasn't a question whom he would try next. Waking Zayn always was the worst, so Louis wouldn't do that to him on their day off. Their camera team usually showed up at around eight in the morning, waking them most of the time, and filming all of them getting out of bed. Except for Liam, of course, who usually was up by seven (but never bothered to be bloody useful and make breakfast). Getting Zayn out of bed was mentally and physically painful, and it was always Louis who ended up being voted to wake Zayn up.

That only left Harry to keep Louis company on this early morning. While Harry wouldn't be happy to be woken that early, Louis knew ways to make Harry scoot over in his bed and make some space for Louis.

When he came into Harry's room ten minutes later, he found Harry sleeping soundly, with the duvet pooled around his waist and his face pressed into a pillow. The window was wide open, morning air and sunlight streaming in. Louis shivered slightly, wondering how Harry didn't feel cold, as he apparently didn't wear anything.

Balancing two mugs of steaming tea, Louis approached the bed. "Hey, sunshine, wake up."

Harry stirred in his sleep, taking a deep breath. He opened an eye and glanced at Louis, a frown knitting up his face. He turned his head and grabbed his phone, checking the display.

"Lou, it's not even eight," he complained, voice raspy and even lower than usual.

"And I can't sleep anymore, so I decided you have to be up with me." Louis set down the mugs on the nightstand and crawled onto Harry's bed.

"Go bother Liam," Harry suggested, not turning back around.

"He's off being sporty and productive," Louis said. "I'm not gonna join the horror."

"Go back to sleep."

Louis angled his chest towards Harry, tickling his sides lightly. "Come on, we'll watch some telly."

Harry groaned.

"I brought tea," Louis tried.

For a moment, Harry didn't react, then he turned around and sighed. "Put on the telly, then," he resigned and sat up, making grabby hands for one of the mugs. His curls were all mussed up and his eyes only little slits, but a smile curled up his lips when Louis handed him his tea.

He lifted his duvet and Louis joined him underneath, back leaning against the headboard comfortably. Louis switched on the TV with the remote control that Harry always kept close to his bed.

They watched old music videos on 4Music in silence, both sipping their tea, and Louis smiled to himself. Getting Harry to comply to him always posed as an easy task. Harry was easy to convince, as long as Louis presented the right arguments.

Tea always was an argument.

"I'm probably not gonna leave this bed for the rest of the day," Harry announced after a while.

"I'm afraid you'll have to, sweetcheeks," Louis informed him.

Harry gave him a bit of a weary look, his sunny expression faltering a little. Louis knew why, knew that Harry was scheduled to be _working_ today, because he had to go on that very public dinner date with Leigh-Anne. It wasn't quite fair, and Harry wasn't exactly happy to miss the boys' movie night.

"Someone has to make breakfast, after all," Louis added, grinning cheekily.

Instantly, Harry's posture relaxed and his expression turned mock-indignant, a brow raised at Louis. "I'm under the impression that you're very much capable of preparing breakfast for yourself."

"Pouring milk over some cereal is not exactly preparing breakfast, Harold."

Harry laughed, bright and loud, and Louis couldn't help but join in. He decided to make it his aim to distract Harry throughout the day, so he would be able to enjoy the day off to its fullest before he would have to go off to that date.

At that moment, the door to Harry's bedroom was opened again and Liam leaned against the doorframe, wearing basketball shorts and a vest.

"Why am I not surprised?" he asked.

Louis smirked. "Backstreet Boys were just on," he told Liam. "You missed them. But you're right in time for Britney Spears."

"Britney's always starred in my wet dreams," Liam commented.

Harry pulled a face. "I just wanted to tell you to join us. Now I'm not so sure."

Louis turned to Harry with a mock-appalled gasp. "You don't like Britney?"

"Who would dislike her?" Harry countered. He pointed at Liam. "I don't like Liam having wet dreams in my bed."

"Oh, shut it," Liam growled and let himself fall onto the bed, lying across Harry and Louis' legs. His hair was glistening wet and he smelled fresh, which led Louis to the conclusion that Liam had just showered.

Louis exchanged a look with Harry, winking. He handed his mug to Liam and turned back to his previous task -- which was to convince Harry to make breakfast. "Liam's been up since six, working out excessively. I think he needs a proper breakfast to recover."

"Fried eggs and baked beans, a proper Full English is the only thing that can revive me." Liam didn't even need a second to jump in on the act, and inwardly, Louis felt very proud of him.

Harry rolled his eyes, but they shone with a fondness that told Louis he was actually happy all of them loved his cooking skills so much. "Guess I don't have a choice, then."

Louis bumped Liam's fist, both of them grinning madly, while Harry rolled out of bed, completely unabashed about his nakedness. He collected his old boxer shorts from the floor and pulled them over on his way out.

Liam gazed after him and turned his attention back to Louis once they were alone. "Gonna have to think of something fun to do for today."

Louis smiled, taking the mug back from Liam to sip from the lukewarm tea again. He didn't have to ask what Liam meant -- it was nice how all of them somehow thought the same and were on the same wavelength.

Louis simply nodded.

+++

"It's shit," Niall said into the quiet. A film was playing on the huge TV screen in front of them, quiet music playing in the background, a love scene unfolding in pretty pictures.

Louis angled his head from where he had rested it on Zayn's thighs, looking at Niall on the other end of the sofa. Liam sat between them, an arm curled around Niall, his legs heavy on Louis' stomach. "What?"

"This," Niall explained. "It's like... this sofa is too big for only four people."

Zayn ran a hand through Louis' hair, humming. "It's actually only laid out for three, Niall."

"That must be three very fat man, then." Niall shrugged, shifting and Louis felt Liam scoot over to let Niall snuggle closer into his arms.

"Well," Louis started, trailing off again, because he didn't really know what exactly he was going to say. "I guess Harry's missing."

Liam sighed, nodding. "I still think we should have kept him from doing that fake dating stunt," he said, voice quiet.

"Would you have rather done it?" Zayn asked.

Liam shrugged. "It's not an easy thing to do."

"You did say in the beginning that you wouldn't mind fake dating one of the girls," Louis reminded him.

"I would now," Liam simply answered. "Like, I would rather want to make it back to the top on my own. In an honest way."

Zayn nodded a little. "It feels a bit unfair that it's all loaded onto him."

That basically summarised it, Louis thought. Like this, Harry was the only one who had to make sacrifices, who had to go out of his way. The problem was that he didn't even do it for himself. He did it for all of them, and that left a sour taste in Louis' mouth, a bitter knowledge weighing on his bones.

At that moment, the front door was opened, just a muffled noise that reached them, indicating that Harry was back. Zayn tensed a little and Louis saw Liam and Niall both turn their heads to the doorway leading to the corridor.

"Hey," Harry greeted softly when he walked in. His face looked a little tired and his smile was not reaching his eyes. "What's the silence about?"

"Movie night," Niall explained. "Just having a quiet one."

“How did it go?” Zayn asked quietly. 

Harry shrugged, casting his look downwards. “Not too well. I think they’ve seen right through me. Like, it’s obvious there’s nothing there. Griffiths said they won’t use the pictures.”

Louis had no idea what to answer -- it wasn’t Harry’s fault, after all. He had been forced to go on that date. How could anyone blame him for not acting in love? 

“I’m sorry,” Harry said before any of them could say something about it, though. “I didn’t mean to let you guys down.” 

“Oh, shut it,” Niall growled. “I certainly don’t expect you to do any of that stuff. I’d rather you don’t, actually.” 

“Don’t rack your brain over that, Haz,” Zayn assured him. “You didn’t let anyone down.” 

Harry was quiet for a moment, then he turned to the screen. "What film is on?" he asked, an obvious attempt at changing the topic.

"It's almost over," Liam said. "You can choose the next one if you want to."

Harry's head flipped around to stare at Liam. "What? I get to choose a film?"

"Don't act like it's something so special." Louis rolled his eyes.

"But I never get to choose."

"That's because the films you want to watch are all artsy or cliché," Niall pointed out. "No one wants to watch that."

"But since none of us actually feel like getting up to put on a new one, and you're already standing..." Louis trailed off, making a gesture with his hand.

Harry grinned widely, shuffling over to the TV to change films. Louis watched him for a moment before he exchanged a look with Zayn. Zayn shrugged slightly, smiling softly. Relief was written all over his face.

"Really?" Liam asked suddenly, and Louis' attention focussed back on Harry. "Love Actually? It's not exactly Christmas time, Harry."

"It's always time for Love Actually," Harry argued, coming back to the sofa.

Liam lifted his legs and Louis angled his, so Harry could fit in between them. Patting Louis' legs, he gestured for Louis to put them over Harry's, and he leaned into Liam's side, leaving his fingers curled around Louis' shin.

"Hey," Louis heard Liam say softly, quietly, while the film started playing. "You okay?"

Harry's fingers were digging into the fabric of Louis' jogging bottoms, and he quickly glanced over at Louis and Zayn. Louis didn't have to check to know Zayn was watching Harry the way he, Liam and Niall did.

"Yeah," he breathed, a smile in his eyes rather than on his lips. The relief that he had seen on Zayn’s face earlier was now settling into Louis’ bones too. 

"I'm okay."

+++

"That's an easy one," Liam said, a happy note in his voice.

Harry hummed in agreement, looking over the paper in his hand. He sat with his back leaning against the side of Zayn's chest, legs sprawled over the lengths of the sofa. "That's definitely something we can do."

Loki yawned loudly, dropping his head to the floor. Niall reached out to pat his fur. "Well, you two are singers, of course it would be easy for you."

Liam furrowed his brows. "You play the guitar, don't you?"

Niall shrugged. "I'm no Santana."

Zayn laughed gently. "You don't need to be to put on a fairly decent performance."

In that moment, Magee strolled into the room, greeting them in a rather stern voice. The cameras were rolling already, so Louis assumed they would just cut this part later. "Have you guys read over this week's challenge?" He waited for their nods, before he added, "There will be a live show this week. On Saturday, actually. The big Finale is coming up in two weeks, so we'd like to make a live show after the regular show is aired."

"A live show?" Zayn repeated, voice weary.

"Well, since this week's challenge is to perform as a band, we figured that's an opportunity. You guys will perform your song live on national television."

Louis felt his throat go a little dry. "Perform live?"

"It'd be an opportunity wasted if you didn’t."

It'd be money lost, Louis thought, was what Magee actually meant. "I'm not sure I'm up for that."

Magee raised a brow. "If I'm not wrong you did participate in this show to get people to notice you."

Louis frowned. "I'm an actor, though," he pointed out. "Not a singer."

"And?" Magee asked.

"Singing live on national telly could resolve in people not actually keeping a good memory of me."

"If it's so bad, we'll just have you lip-syncing." Magee turned, the discussion obviously over.

Louis felt it burning under his fingertips to say more, but he decided to postpone it. He would work out a strategy with the boys later.

+++

Liam had worked out a rather solid plan.

Over a midnight snack, they had discussed their options for this challenge, had talked about their opinions and had made clear who would take which part.

A band was a rather ambiguous term, and Louis had made use of that.

"You did sing in a musical, though, didn't you?" Harry had asked at some point.

Louis had -- but that had been different. He had been young and inexperienced and that production of Grease had been rather cheap. They had desperately needed a lead actor, and Louis had desperately needed references for his résumé.

It had only been obvious to leave the singing to Liam and Harry. Niall said he liked singing just fine, but since he was the only one who could play the guitar decently, he had got stuck with that instead. Zayn had claimed to only sing in the shower where no one would hear, so Liam had suggested Zayn could take on the drums. Louis had offered to play the triangle, but unfortunately, Zayn had a good memory for details, and had pointed out that he knew Louis played the keys.

The song choice had been a little more difficult to settle on. Harry and Liam had pledged for Torn, which would have been nice, but Niall had said it wasn't really a good song to play on the guitar. Too inexperienced with music, Louis and Zayn had kept quiet.

Louis had been stuck with a specific song in mind, however, from the very first moment on they had been told to perform as a band. In his mind, it was the only song worth being performed by a bunch of lads like them.

"Teenage Dirtbag," he had said, once they had run out of suggestions.

Zayn immediately had shaken his head. "Not in a million years."

"It's cool," Louis had argued. "It suits us."

"I actually like that idea," Harry had said. "That'd be a good one to divide the vocal parts too."

After that, only Zayn had to be convinced, so Louis had felt rather accomplished with himself.

It had been a solid plan.

Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out.

"Zayn, you're losing the rhythm," Liam complained. He turned off the karaoke version of the song and crossed his arms. "It's really easy if you count in your head."

"I don't think it's that easy," Zayn mumbled, dropping the drumsticks.

"Okay, Liam, you do the singing for a while, I'll sit with Zayn," Harry offered. He positioned himself behind Zayn and Liam and Liam turned the karaoke version on again.

This time, Zayn kept the rhythm, Harry gently tapping Zayn's shoulder to guide him. Liam sang quietly, not putting too much effort and Louis forgot to play the keys for a moment, watching the other four boys easily falling into the music.

It was nice, actually.

"See," Harry said once the song ended. "That worked. You'll get the hang of it."

Zayn nodded, not seeming all that upset anymore.

The people behind the cameras told them to get back to their original formation and Louis rolled his eyes. They had only practiced for a few hours, but he already felt tired of it. It was all a little dull, and he would have liked to mess it up, spice it up with a few shenanigans.

The producers were not too impressed with that, though.

+++

Louis could hear his heart beat loudly in his ears, his blood rushing through his veins, to his head and down to his feet again, leaving him with a dizzy feeling. The audience outside was wild, the girls had just come off stage, buzzing and laughing loudly.

He didn't want to go out there -- it would all end in disaster.

His heart kept thrumming through his blood, pounding in his head and Louis's eyes flew open, staring into the darkness.

A dream, he thought, running a hand through his hair. It had only been a dream.

The pounding was still there, however, and Louis frowned, feeling it beat steadily in his veins. He figured it wasn't his heart, it was the drum kit they had set up in one of the basement rooms.

Lying back down, he listened to the beating for a few moments, heard it falter, stumble a little, and Louis smiled to himself, imagining Zayn trying to get it right.

Barefoot and only in his boxer shorts and a worn-out shirt, Louis made his way out of his room, quietly so, as to not wake anyone else up. He took the stairs to the basement and found Zayn behind the drumkit, quietly drumming the beat of their chosen song.

"You're a bit of an overachiever, aren't you?" Louis asked and Zayn's head snapped up, eyes wide.

"Fuck, sorry," Zayn said. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's alright," Louis assured him and stepped into the room, dropping onto the sofa at the wall. "Can I help out somehow?"

Zayn shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe you can play your part? It's easier for me to orientate."

Louis shook his head, but went over to the keyboard all the same. "You really do play by ear, don't you?"

"It's easier," Zayn simply repeated.

"Okay, count me in," Louis demanded and spread his fingers over the keys, waiting for Zayn's signal. He tuned in, but felt that it all sounded a little odd with only drums and keys, so after a few moments, he started singing the lyrics too.

On the high notes, Louis let his voice fade out -- it was only Zayn, but even in front of him Louis didn't feel secure to sing such high notes. His voice would probably break embarrassingly and he'd sound like a horse after running a race.

To his surprise, Zayn easily took those parts, started to sing, voice steady and clear like the fucking angels on Christmas Eve. Louis stopped playing, jaw dropping and eyes staring at Zayn in wonder.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he was about to say, but Liam beat him to it, standing in the door frame. "You guys actually do sing?"

Louis snapped his mouth shut and turned to Liam, blinking. "Did you just hear Zayn sing?"

Liam rolled his eyes. "I heard both of you, you twat. You both can sing, and acted like you can't. This could have been so fucking easy from the very start, if you had only said a word."

"I can't--" Louis started, and Liam cut him off.

"Shut it, Tommo. You have an amazing voice. Like, the way it complemented Zayn's just now?" Liam shook his head. "Perfect. That'll work even better in contrast to Niall's and Harry's low voices."

"If you think I'm going to sing live in front of a million people," Zayn pointed out, "I'll have you know that I'll most likely chicken out."

"You don't have a reason to," Liam reassured him. He went over to the stereo and put on the karaoke version again. "Come on, sing it again."

Louis exchanged a quick look with Zayn, before they joined Liam on the lyrics, singing along the parts they knew. Not even two minutes into the song, Harry and Niall strolled in, and Niall happily nudged Louis over with his bum to sit next to him, tuning into their singing.

Harry grinned widely when they finished, the music fading out. "That's great. Sounds awesome. I didn't know you guys could sing so well." Before Louis could say anything, Harry pointed at Zayn. "Your voice is perfect for the bridge, let's try dividing the parts."

"Great idea," Liam agreed, getting a sheet of the lyrics. "Louis you can do the whole second verse, it'll be a nice contrast to Harry doing the first."

Louis frowned, wondering when them singing the song together had become a thing.

"You'll definitely have to do the girl part," Niall told Liam. "It just sounds so wicked."

They all agreed, and Harry turned to Niall. "What about you?"

"I'd still like to play the guitar? I wanna sing along, but I'd rather play the guitar?" Niall shrugged and gripped the electric guitar standing next to the keyboard. "It's my thing."

"Okay, let's try this," Liam suggested and put the music back on. He gestured to Harry, and after a few beats Harry started to sing. He sounded quiet, effortless and Louis could see he had fun, it was written all over his face.

When they all sang the chorus, it almost knocked all air out of Louis, though. They harmonised perfectly and Liam grinned at him widely, expression so open and proud, and -- this was it, Louis thought. This was how they were supposed to be.

They made for a perfect team, their voices blending together perfectly. Louis couldn't help but grin back.

Niall played the riffs, the guitar set a bit too loudly, drowning out the rest of the music, but it didn't matter. This was finally not forced, not something they had been told to do. This had been their decision, this was them having fun together. Louis wanted this to be how people should perceive them.

"Ace," Niall said breathlessly, once the music had stopped. "This sounded so ace!"

"The show is tomorrow, though," Zayn pointed out. "Too late to change plans."

Louis exchanged a look with Harry, could see he was thinking the same.

"There's nothing like _too late_ ," Louis corrected, a smirk spreading over his face. "We'll just do our own thing."

+++

"We didn't win," Louis said, facing the camera in front of him, "but we definitely left an impression."

He snickered to himself, covering his mouth and glancing at the wall above the camera. "The girls were really good. To come up with an original song is definitely the reason they won. But I think we didn't do too bad, either. We could have needed a bit more time to practice, I guess."

Humming, he crossed his legs, adjusting the beanie on his head. "Zayn and Harry both got really nervous before the gig. We were all nervous, especially Niall, since he never really stood on a stage before. But he slayed it, didn't he?" Louis grinned at the memory. "Him and his guitar, really. He's such a bundle of energy, and once he was out there, he definitely was the one to set the mood. The audience loved him."

Casting his look downwards, Louis thought of what he wanted to say about the others. By now, everything they said or did in front of a camera was only facade, something they did to keep up an image of them following the producer's instructions. As soon as the cameras were switched off and the team gone, they set up plans to fool them, how to act against those fixed settings.

Louis hoped there was at least a single person out there who would notice.

"Liam did a really good job of putting this together," he went on. "We were all pretty good on our instruments, but at the show we kinda just went with the moment, and did what felt right. Liam's just really good with all the music stuff, isn't he? He has some proper knowledge, so we were quite lucky to have him. Him and Harry, actually. Zayn and I both sing by ear, play instruments by ear, so it was good they actually could read the notes on the sheets."

He took a deep breath and shrugged. "For the performance, Liam was probably the only one who kept his nerves." He thought back to how Liam had been the one who had talked one of the stage tech guys into exchanging the tape with the one they had brought, so none of the producers would find out. Louis had never thought Liam would have been capable of something like that, and it made him all the more proud to know they had managed to corrupt Liam like that.

After yesterday, Louis would definitely trust Liam with his life.

He didn't say that much out loud, especially because the producers had been furious. Magee's round, chubby face had been red in anger when they had come off stage. Griffith on the other hand had been rather pale. It had felt like a victory, for once.

"I could see Harry was really nervous, and he got a little jittery during his solo," Louis went on. "As a friend I really wanted to do something for him, but I hardly could go over to him during the performance and go 'You alright, man'. He felt like he had let us down,” he added, sighing. “And no matter what we said, he didn’t come off it. It’s on him, there’s nothing any of us could do. I felt that I really wanted to do something for a friend." He glanced up at the camera again, and shrugged. "But I couldn't."

Licking his lips, Louis averted his gaze again. "Anyway, it went pretty fine, I guess. Even if we didn't win, I think we did make progress as a team."

Nodding, Louis clapped his hands and got up, put on a broad smile for the camera. "We've really become a good team." He gave a small wave and made for the door.

"That's it."


	5. Liam

It was their last week.

Liam looked into the mirror and felt his heart weigh heavily at the thought, while he adjusted his suit. He straightened out the sleeves, shifted his tie slightly and closed a button of his jacket before he decided to open it again.

Two months had gone by rather quickly. Their challenges had been ridiculous, but they had helped them grow so much closer too. The prospect of having to move out of the house next Saturday was actually a little painful.

"Liam, are you good to go?" Niall peeked into his room, only his head visible from behind the door. Liam turned and gave him a quick nod.

They'd go over to the girls. The week after the live performance as a band, they had no challenge to fulfil. They had been informed that it was their challenge to plan a party for the last night, while the girls had been planning one for this night.

On Wednesday, Harry had come into the kitchen with an envelope in his hands, which had turned out to be a formal invitation to a dinner party at the girls' house.

Liam didn't actually look forward to it. They had received their scripts, and this time, they wanted each of the boys to pair up with one of the girls for that party. He would have to sit with Jade Thirlwall for a whole night, ask her to dance and lead intelligent conversations -- which basically meant he wasn't allowed to talk football and video games.

Liam sighed and turned away from the mirror, patting Loki's head who lay on Liam's bed, sleeping soundly. Liam wished he could swap with the dog and just stay here in his bed.

"They actually did send a limousine to pick us up," Niall whispered when Liam came out of his room. The camera team was downstairs, probably following Louis and Zayn around, as they definitely weren't dressed yet.

"What a farce," Liam agreed. "Who will you have to sit the night through with?"

Niall shrugged. "Jesy Nelson. Could have fared worse, I guess."

"They're all fit," Liam said. "And, well, I don't mean to say anything bad about them, I'm sure they are nice girls---" He let go of a deep breath. "But a formal dinner, suits and champagne? Not really my cup of tea."

"Same, mate," Niall hummed. "I guess we'll just have to sit through it."

When they came downstairs, Harry was sitting in the lounge, typing out something on his phone, Louis and Zayn were both not in sight.

A camera was pointed at Liam and Niall.

"Where are Louis and Zayn?" Liam asked.

"Zayn's in the bathroom, I think." Harry gestured to the window with a tilt of his head. "And Lou's waiting outside."

"I'll get Zayn," Niall announced, turning. "Meet you outside."

Harry got up and Liam followed him to the door. "A limousine. Quite fancy."

"I haven't ever had a ride in a limousine," Harry told him. "I think it's really exciting."

Liam opened the door and they stopped next to Louis. "It's just a car, Harry."

"A car with a telephone and a fridge, though," Louis threw in.

Liam rolled his eyes when Harry and Louis bumped fists, obviously agreeing on how that was something special.

"Gentlemen," the driver said, opening the door for them. Louis slid in first and Liam followed, scooting over to make space for Harry. Before Liam had even sat down properly, Louis had a phone in his hand, holding it to his ear.

"Hello," he barked into the receiver repeatedly. "Someone there?"

"Louis," Harry reminded him calmly, "the driver's still outside. How would he pick up?"

At that moment, Zayn and Niall followed, taking the seats next to Louis.

"A limousine to drive us five-hundred metres to the girls' house," Zayn pointed out. "I wonder if they realise just how ridiculous that is."

A camera man had placed himself next to Harry, filming the scene, while the car started moving. They were quiet for the short drive, only exchanging a few glances between each other. By now, Liam knew, they understood each other rather well without having to talk.

Upon arriving, they were greeted at the door by a lady wearing a black and white uniform, guiding them through to the dining room.

Liam took a deep breath, eyeing the girls sitting at the table, each of them dressed in an elegant dress, hair and make-up touched up perfectly. They got up once they spotted the boys, and greeted them one by one.

Liam's head was spinning after he had kissed the last cheek, engulfed by a cloud of perfume and hairspray.

It wouldn't be a fun night.

+++

If he had to eat any more, Liam was convinced he would drop dead in a second.

He felt stuffed up to his throat, making it hard for him to even move. Throwing up seemed like a viable option, as he was on his way to the toilet anyway.

Other than that, the evening was going better than he had thought. He hadn’t been made to dance yet, and Jade actually proved to be rather nice company. Liam had not forgotten about her beating him at their sports day, though. He didn't think he would ever forget about that.

So far, most conversations had been held in the group, which was really nice. Louis did a lot of the talking, and Harry was a right charmer with all the girls, while Niall apparently didn't exactly think about what he was saying. That left Liam to sit back and just listen, throwing in a sentence or two here and there.

After their dessert, Perrie and Zayn had disappeared to the garden, Niall, Jesy and Louis had engaged in a conversation about books, while Harry, Eleanor and Leigh-Anne had been pretty wrapped up in fashion. Liam had talked to Jade about her career mostly, which had been easy.

He opened the door to the bathroom, stopping in his tracks when he found Zayn by the basin, water running.

"There you are," Liam said with a smirk. "Didn't think I'd see you that soon again."

Zayn tilted his head. "I don't think any of the girls here is that cheap."

Liam groaned. "I was joking, Zayn," he clarified. "So how is it going?"

Zayn shrugged, drying his hands. "Good. Perrie's nice, we get along. You?"

"It's alright, I guess. Not my kind of party, but it could be worse."

"Definitely," Zayn agreed. "How are the boys holding up?"

Liam waved a hand in front of his face. "Harry's the perfect Prince Charming, and who doesn't love Niall?"

Zayn smiled fondly. "True. I guess we'll join you again in a minute."

"Alright," Liam said and watched Zayn walk out of the bathroom. "See you then."

Once the door had closed behind Zayn, Liam leaned against it and closed his eyes.

In that aspect, he and Zayn were pretty much alike. He was sure Zayn had taken a moment to himself in here, trying to escape from all the people surrounding them constantly. It was just nice to have a few minutes alone, all to himself, to clear his mind.

When he came back, he spotted Louis dancing with Eleanor, their steps smooth, looking elegant. It portrayed a bit of a contrast to Louis wearing dark jeans, rolled up at his ankles, a plain white t-shirt and a blazer. He didn't exactly look casual, but he didn't sport the classic suit and tie look like Niall, Liam and Zayn did. Liam watched his eyes crinkle in a smile over something Eleanor said, their steps not faltering for a second.

Niall had apparently opted against standard dance, moving freely over the pit, which looked slightly ridiculous, given a waltz was playing. Jesy didn't seem to mind, though, as she kind of even moved with him.

Zayn and Perrie sat at the table again, talking to Jade, Leigh-Anne and Harry. Liam decided to join them, and see if Jade would make any remarks that would hint at her wanting to dance too. As a gentleman, he would do her the favour, obviously.

Liam was just sitting down when Harry and Leigh-Anne got up. He caught Harry's look of pure horror, and shot back a sympathetic smile before Harry was dragged off to the dancing pit.

Not long, he thought. They wouldn't have to stay for that much longer.

+++

Liam had expected everyone still being asleep when he came back from his run the next morning. Instead, he found the complete team gathered in the lounge.

Zayn practically lay on Louis, eyes only barely open, Louis' arm slung around his waist. Harry had curled up in one of the armchairs and wore only his underwear. Niall was sitting next to Louis and Zayn on the sofa, a bowl of cereal in his hand.

"How many times do I have to tell you that we don't want footage of you guys sharing a bed?" Magee spit out the moment Liam entered the room. "That's not the kind of stuff we want to show."

Louis yawned, cheek resting against Zayn's hair. "It's what happens, though. I don't see the problem. We were only sleeping, not having an orgy."

Griffiths gasped, some of the people behind the cameras snickered. "You and Niall were practically all over Harry, and he was _naked_."

"Harry's always naked," Zayn commented.

"We were a little drunk and fell asleep in the same bed," Niall added. "If that's not the kind of stuff you want to show on telly, then just don't show it, I s'pose."

Magee laughed in a huff. "There's not much else left we could show, if you guys go on like that." He pointed at Louis and Zayn. "Sit straight, for God's sake, and you," he turned to Harry, "are dressed at all times. I don't want any more footage of you naked, snuggled up to each other or touching each other inappropriately."

Liam waited for Magee to avert his attention before he strolled in and stopped behind Harry's armchair, leaning over the backrest and putting his arms around Harry's shoulders. "What's going on here?"

Harry instantly leaned into the touch, and Louis shot Liam a wicked grin, but bit it down when Magee and Griffiths faced them again.

"Very funny, Payne," Griffiths growled and pointed at the door. "Go and get dressed, guys. We want to start filming."

Liam received a high-five from Niall once they were upstairs and out of sight. "That was brilliant, mate," Niall praised him.

"What utter twats," Liam commented. "Those scripts get more and more ridiculous with each week. They call this a reality show, but don’t want to show the real us."

Louis stopped in front of the door to his room and lifted one shoulder, a mischievous expression on his face. "I guess we'll have to think of a Grand Finale then, to ensure we’re _really_ seen at least once."

+++

"You think that will work?" Zayn sounded sceptical.

Niall shrugged, scrolling through something on his phone. "The house is big enough, and if we make all preparations while the camera team is not around, it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"We have to make sure everyone keeps shut about it, though," Harry considered. "If it leaks, we'll be in a hell of a lot of trouble."

Louis nodded. "What do you think, how many people can you gather?"

"About twenty?" Liam estimated. "Maybe a few more."

"If everyone of us gets twenty people to come, we could definitely count this as an success," Niall pointed out. "Most of my mates are in Ireland, though, so I probably won't get as many to come."

"I'm sure Harry can make up for it," Zayn said. "He probably knows a few dozen people who would come."

"A little party never killed nobody," Harry simply commented.

"Great." Louis rolled up the sleeves of his jumper, tapping a finger at the white sheet in front of him. "We'll give them the party of the century."

"Griffiths and Magee are gonna be so pissed," Liam snickered.

"That's the plan," Harry and Niall answered simultaneously.

+++

By the time, Friday came around, Liam found himself waking up squished between Zayn and Niall on the floor of the living room. Zayn was curled against Liam's chest and Niall snored against Liam's neck.

Today, the filming team would only show up early evening, once they would start to set up everything for the party, so Liam allowed himself to snuggle closer to Zayn and close his eyes for a few more minutes.

Sleep had been cut short over the past week, with them planning their party for tonight non-stop. In front of the cameras they pretended to be planning a barbeque party in the garden for the girls, with Zayn being the assigned head of organisation for the challenge. Liam honestly wondered how no one had yet picked up on how something definitely had to be going on behind the scenes. Zayn was the last person to organise a party all by himself -- he would probably be completely lost.

Louis and Harry planned out most of the party, making lists and suggestions for Zayn at night. Apart from what they had to plan for the on-camera party, they had used every single minute off-camera to call up people and set up a proper house party.

Harry had a friend who would do the catering, Niall had organised a few of his friends to buy the necessary drinks. Louis had insisted they'd get a volleyball net for the pool, as well as a tent and party lights for the garden.

The best part was that all expenses were on the production team.

To them, it only looked like they were planning a fancy garden and pool party for ten people. In reality, more than fifty people had already confirmed that they would come, and Liam couldn't wait for them to crash through the door tonight.

He wriggled out of the pile of sleeping bodies on the floor, checking Niall's mobile for the time. It was almost two in the afternoon, which wasn't too surprising, given the fact that they hadn't fallen asleep until six in the morning.

"Breakfast," Niall demanded after Liam had quietly woken Loki and had almost reached the door.

In the kitchen, Liam checked the fridge and decided that toast had to do as a breakfast. Loki shuffled over to the door, throwing looks back at Liam, clearly begging to be let outside. Liam opened the door for him, watching him ran off into the garden. He was just putting the first slices into the toaster, when Harry stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.

"Morning," he said gravelly.

"Tea?" Liam asked instead of a greeting.

"Please," Harry answered. He got eggs from the fridge, as well as bacon and Liam decided that he would miss Harry most. "Can't believe it's our last day."

"Yeah," Liam agreed. "I don't really know what I'm going to do, once this is over."

"Probably deal with lawyers," Harry suggested. "Magee and Griffiths are going to sue us for what we're about to pull tonight."

"They can't," Liam repeated what they had discussed so many times, watching the kettle. "There is nothing in our contract or the script that states we can't invite other people."

"They'll be furious, though," Harry pointed out, putting a pan on the stove.

"Are you chickening out, Styles?" Liam asked mockingly.

Harry didn't look up, instead frowned at the oil heating up in the pan. "Maybe."

Liam took two cups from one of the cupboards, resting his hand over Harry's elbow as he passed him to get the tea. "There's no need to."

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "I guess there isn't."

"Would you have rather hosted another of those dinner parties?" Liam poured water into the cups. "Wearing a suit and parading a girl around?"

Harry laughed. "I'm good at it, though," he argued. "But, no. Of course not. Tonight is going to be fun."

"Definitely," Liam agreed, handing Harry his tea.

Apparently, the smell of eggs and bacon lured the other three guys in. One after another, Louis, Zayn and Niall tickled into the kitchen, slumping down into the chairs at the kitchen table. Liam made tea for all of them, and as they slowly woke up, the prospect of the party got them into high moods.

"What will happen after?" Niall asked. "Like, do we really have to move out tomorrow?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, it's what the script says. We have to make one last statement for the camera before we head back home."

Zayn moved his fork over his plate, pushing some scrambled eggs around. "What are we gonna say in that statement?"

"Keep acting as though everything is fine. Like we don't know we did anything wrong," Louis explained. "They can't do a thing about it."

It was quiet for a moment, Liam glanced around the table, four young men in front of him, looking tired but very comfortable in each other’s presence. "And after that?"

"What do you mean?" Louis asked.

"What'll happen to us?" Liam pushed further. "We won't be living together anymore, obviously."

"But we can still meet up, yeah?" Niall asked. "For drinks, or to watch films."

"Actually," Harry said, pushing his plate away. "Louis and I were thinking about moving in together."

Liam felt that he should be surprised. For some odd reason that feeling never came. Zayn and Niall both didn't look too shocked, either. "You were?" he simply repeated.

"It's nice living together," Louis pointed out. "And since we're both looking for a place in London right now, it’s not so much of a bad idea. Figured the rent could be cheaper if we lived together."

Zayn nodded quietly, and Liam smiled at them. It was a good idea.

"In that case," Niall said around a mouth-full, "we won't need to worry about where to meet up."

Liam stored away the sound of the laughter that filled the room in a corner of his heart. This was what he wanted to remember, no matter where they would be going from here.

He wouldn't forget it.

+++

"I think that was a party for the books," Liam recapped the past night, shrugging his shoulders. He wondered what exactly the other boys had said in here, but figured it couldn't have been too different from what he was going to say.

"The girls definitely loved it. They did seem to enjoy themselves." He thought back to Leigh-Anne drinking so much, she had passed out on one of the sunbeds by the pool, a bottle of beer in her hand. "For some odd reason, we still lost this challenge too. But I don't think it matters. Even if we had won this one, we would not have won the show. So." He shrugged. "It was just about the fun."

Harry and Niall had made a fantastic barbeque for the cameras, the girls had loved the atmosphere of the garden, Liam had poured fancy cocktails. Everything had gone according to their producers’ scripts until at ten, a bunch of cars had parked outside the house and a group of Louis' friends had invaded the house. Only a few minutes after that, the next group had entered. The house had filled with people before any of the team could have reacted.

Their only choice had been to either keep filming or fuck off.

They had kept filming, and Liam figured that he would pay an enormous amount of money to see the complete footage of the night.

"Harry made cupcakes," he said instead, smiling happily. "Everyone loved them, especially the Disney princess ones. Like, how ridiculous can it get?" He laughed about it, leaning back in the chair. "Jade probably had five. I saw her feeding them to other people."

Rubbing his face, Liam crossed his legs and then laced his fingers. "I still can't believe Zayn organised all of this by himself. It's wicked. He's definitely done a good job. I didn't think he'd be the kind of guy to organise such fun parties, but you never know, right? Apparently, Zayn knows how to party." Acting innocent and as if this hadn’t been their biggest shenanigan yet, was actually the dot on the i. It did make up for Liam’s slight headache, at least.

He directed his look at the camera. "The house is a mess, as expected. I mean, having a good party needs to reflect in the state of the house the next morning. There's ketchup all over the kitchen table and bacon stuck on the window frames. I have no idea how it got there, but it did. A bunch of people still occupy the sofas and bathrooms, sleeping off their hangovers. There was a pink goat in the bathroom and Harry got really attached to it. I don’t know what happened to it. The pool water does have a suspicious colour, and I'm not yet sure how, but I think I saw Zayn strolling through the house in a chicken costume this morning."

Another laugh escaped Liam, and he shook his head. "I'm actually a little sad it's already over. I came to really like the other four boys. Zayn is probably the kindest person I have ever met. He wears his heart on his sleeve, really, and he is very modest. I'll miss him talking about literature and all those clever things. No one else really talks about clever stuff around me, that was a nice change."

Liam ran a hand through his short hair, looking at his lap. "I'll miss Niall coming up to me for a random snuggle. That boy knows how to show affection, I envy him a lot for that. Basically, around Niall, it's impossible to feel down. He just cheers you up, no matter what." He had more, wanted to talk about Niall always coming up with the funniest ideas, anything, as long as it was impossible to realise. He couldn't say it, though. Not at this point.

"Harry is quirky," he went on instead. "But in the best way possible. He always has a clever answer and he never loses sight of what he's aiming at. He is very warm, and always thinks about others. Sometimes it's too much, and I would like to keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't get into trouble by trying to please everyone around him. I'll miss his stupid puns," Liam added, thinking about how Harry had likened the production team to a horde of lemmings.

"I probably won't miss Louis, though," Liam said through a grin. "He's loud and can be pretty obnoxious. But unfortunately, he is the best friend anyone could wish for. He takes responsibility and is very protective. It may not always shine through, because he hides it behind jokes and sarcasm, but Louis cares a lot. He's got a good balance there."

Looking up at the camera again, Liam shrugged. "Living with these four boys has been a great experience. But I don't think it has to be goodbye. I don't think I have to leave this house, missing them. We've become a pretty good team, and I think we can keep working as a team outside of these walls."

Getting up, Liam rubbed his hands over his thighs, hesitating for a second. "No, actually, I think we'll be an even better team outside these walls," he added.

With a firm nod, he turned to leave.

"That's it."


	6. Epilogue

"Fuck," Zayn muttered the moment his car significantly slowed down. He used the last few metres it rolled to steer it to the side of the road, where it came to a halt with a rattling noise.

Zayn banged his head against the steering wheel and groaned, closing his eyes.

"Please don't," he plead, trying to start the engine again. A few stuttering groans were all he got as an answer.

He was on his way back from Bradford where he had visited his parents. His car hadn't sounded too healthy on his way there, but Zayn had been convinced he would make it back to London, at least. Instead, his car had decided to just die down in the middle of fucking nowhere.

He was just outside of Luton, and it was almost midnight. Zayn didn't think he'd get a towing service to come right now without having to pay a cheque worth of two months wages.

Calling them anyways, he just relied on his next wages being proper good. He had been cast by Gucci for a campaign, and Zayn had only had a few talks with them yet, but he hoped that this job would finally get him to the top.

At least he could expect Gucci to pay him well.

Participating in a reality show had not helped all that much to get him jobs, but Zayn didn't exactly regret the experience. He had met four of his best friends that way, and for that alone it had been worth it.

He lit a cigarette while he waited for the towing service to come and pick him up, looking up workshops close-by on his mobile. He picked one that Google users had rated with four stars, writing the address of the workshop down in the pocketbook Harry had got him for Christmas last year.

They all lived rather close by now. After Harry and Louis had found a flat in London, Niall had soon moved into their neighbourhood. He had given up his flat in Ireland completely, only ever went there now to visit family. He was trainer for the national football youngsters squad, which tied him to London permanently.

Liam had lived furthest from them, but at the beginning of the year, he had rented a flat just around the corner from Niall's, big enough to accommodate him and Loki. His latest album was pretty successful, the first single he had released last November had been a solid top ten hit. They had celebrated it at Niall's flat, with a party that could compete with the one they had held at the show, even though it had only been the five of them.

Louis, too, had finally landed a major role in a film. The productions had already started in February and Louis kept telling them about the work on set whenever they managed to meet up for dinner at his and Harry's place. For Harry, not much had changed. He was still writing songs, rather successful ones, for other artists, but hadn't yet managed to sell a song of his own. Liam had promised to use some of his connections, though, to have some people take a look at Harry's stuff.

Zayn lived furthest from them now, but that still only meant it took him fifteen minutes to the area they lived in. Still, Zayn didn't want to give up the place. It was spacious and not too expensive, so he had enough rooms to use one as an studio for his artwork.

When he saw the towing car approaching, he dropped his cigarette and got out his wallet. It didn't take too long to fill in the paperwork, and Zayn slid into the passenger seat of the towing car. He told the driver the address of the workshop and got out his mobile again to figure out whom to call.

He didn't actually have too many options. It was too late to send Perrie on the road -- Zayn would feel bad asking her. His parents were too far away to be an option.

Which only left one of the four boys.

Frowning, Zayn opened his What'sApp contacts and hovered over the top four chats. Eventually, he opened Niall's first and typed out a short message.

_Car broke down :/ I'm stuck at the workshop. Can you come and pick me up, pls?_

He added the address before he copied the text. Niall could use a bit of a head start, Zayn decided, and pasted the message into the chat he had with Harry, then Louis', then Liam's.

He'd see which of them would come to pick him up first. Zayn smiled slightly, remembering his theory.

Putting it to the test was the only way to ever be certain.

The workshop was dark, closed for the night, and the driver of the towing service dropped Zayn's car off in front of the gates wordlessly before he drove off again.

Sighing, Zayn opened his car and slid into the seat, putting on some music. He raised his head to look at the clear spring night sky. Stars were blinking down on him, and Zayn lit one cigarette after the other, singing along to the songs coming on the radio, trying to kill time.

A shooting star fell right in the moment when lights hit him and stole his attention.

Shielding his eyes against the bright light, Zayn got out of his car and tried to make out the silhouette approaching him. It took a moment for him to adjust to the lights, then he recognised Liam.

"Hey mate," Liam greeted him. "You owe me a date with a pretty brunette."

Zayn laughed, closing the door of his car and locking it. "Thanks for coming, Liam."

Liam threw an arm over Zayn's shoulders. "No question."

In that moment, another car approached, slowing down and parking right behind Liam's.

Liam raised a brow, glancing at Zayn. "Were you afraid I wouldn't come?"

"Are you serious?" Louis yelled from twenty metres away before Zayn could even answer. "You called all of us?"

Harry appeared behind him, looking a little confused.

"I couldn't be sure," Zayn defended himself. "I just wanted to secure myself a ride home."

"I thought you had sent the message to both of us, in case one of us wouldn't check their phone," Harry mused.

"One can never know. See, Niall failed the test," Zayn mocked them. "He didn't show up."

"Great," Louis commented. "What do I get for passing?"

"A hug, and maybe a beer next time we go to the pub," Zayn promised.

Right then, another car rounded the corner and stopped in front of the shop. Niall got out of it, a frown on his face.

"So all of us passed," Liam noted.

Zayn smiled, looking around between his four best friends. He couldn't quite believe he hadn't known one of them a year ago. They had grown so close, so important.

Each of them would come to rescue Zayn at any time.

"Well, Harry hasn't," he answered.

"What?" Harry gasped. "Why not?"

"Technically, you didn't come on your own," Zayn pointed out and reached out to poke Harry's ribs. "But I'll let it slide."

"Maybe we should leave you here to rot," Harry suggested. "And drive off back home without you."

"He's a spoiled brat," Niall threw in. "Ordering all four of us to his rescue."

Louis grinned. "Damsel in distress in every single possible scenario, Malik."

Zayn smiled. "In that case, I choose Batman to escort me home."

"So, midnight snack at mine?" Liam asked waiting for all of them to nod in agreement.

Zayn followed Liam to his car, and watched the other three boys going back to theirs. Louis and Harry were talking about something and Niall was singing a song to himself, before he shouted something over the roof of his car in Louis’ direction. 

Louis answered by flipping him the finger. Harry burst out laughing.

At any time, Zayn thought again, smiling to himself, and shut the door, while Liam started the  
engine and talked about the date he had just been on. 

He could always count on them.

\--- fin. ---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so very much for reading :) 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it!!! Come, visit me on [Tumblr](http://sadamenoito.tumblr.com/) and say hello, if you would like to. ♥


End file.
